Take a Hike

Best part about living in Utah? We are just minutes away from mountain paradise. Hiking season came a little late this year because we had a cold, wet Spring, but now we are heading into the mountains nearly every week.
We let Persy do some of her own hiking, and despite falling and looking like she had just completed a Tough Mudder, she could not be happier.

Witchy Fun

Yes, we are still here. We've been spending every spare minute outside soaking in all of the sun before this week's snow storm. Here are a few highlights from our fall festivities just to get things caught up. Witch Sightings at Gardner Village

Warm fall stroll through Red Butte Garden


Pumpkin Everything: pumpkin painting, pumpkin patches, and sweet pumpkin sticky rice.

Cecret Lake

Last week, we had a fun hike to Cecret Lake, up near Alta ski resort. Persy loved scampering across the rocks near the lake and watching the many chipmunks. She is my little adventure girl!

Sitting near her friend Ethan

The scenery was incredible and the trail was surrounded by summer wild flowers. This picture doesn't do it justice!

Time with Thomas

Persy and I had a scenic drive to Heber yesterday to ride on Thomas the train. Persy really adores this show and was very excited to ride on the train. We had a countdown to the event and every day she wanted to know if it was time to go on Thomas yet.

Wild Goose Chase

Spring weather has turned us into explorers. Last week, we went to Wheeler Historic Farm and Persy had a grand time chasing the geese, picking up pebbles and sticks and trying to eat rabbit poop. This girl is very busy!

Mixed Reviews

Lights on Temple Square got mixed reviews from Persy this year. She loved going inside the visitor's center to see the giant statue of Christ, but she was cold and a little cranky for the outdoor portion. Classic grumpiness! :)

Run, Wendy, Run

I knew that running a marathon would be a challenge, but I had no idea it would be so much fun! I was amazed by all the friendly volunteers and the great crowd support. I also felt a lot of camaraderie with my fellow runners and really enjoyed the gorgeous course route for the St. George Marathon. As a first timer, I don't think I could have had a better experience. One thing that really helped me was running most of the race with a pacing group. I finished in 5 hours and 28 minutes, (I had no goal time and had estimated my pace at closer to 6 hours, so I was pretty thrilled with my time.) I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity and thankful for all the support I received from friends and family.

St. George Marathon By the Numbers:

0 Blisters (Smart Wool Socks Oh, how I love thee!)

1 Pre-Race Banana

2 Times listening to "I'm Gonna Be" (500 Miles) by the Pretenders and feeling so happy that I actually started to sing out loud while I ran.

4 Family members that came to cheer me on

5 Hours of sleep the night before

6 New friends (Thank you Deb and Esther)

7 Thousand runners in the race

11 Mile mark when I wished I was a man so I wouldn't have to wait in line for the port-a-potty

15-17 My favorite miles of the race with breathtaking scenery of Snow Canyon- I can hardly describe my elation

22 "The Wall" - My 2 mile stretch of nausea and fatigue



24 Family greets me and some angel hands me a bag of crushed ice (Pictured above at mile 24, the finish line is so close I can almost taste it!)

26.2 Miles completed!

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills!

I am often surprised by the fact that I have lived in Utah nearly all of my life and I still feel like there thousands of places in the state left to discover. Here are some pictures from a lovely little Mommy-Daughter hike to Doughnut Falls that I took with Persy and my friend Megan. The fall leaves were just beginning to change and the drive up the canyon was quite stunning.

Megan and her cuties- I'm lucky to have an adventurous friend that will do such fun things with me. This is one of the same friends that traveled throughout Europe with me before we both got married. We are constantly planning excursions and expeditions that we want to go on when we are little old ladies.

The kids all loved tossing rocks into the water!

I love my Kelty backpack! I also use it around the city to do errands.

Sundays in the Park with Gabe

Sundays are my favorite day of the week. They are the only days when I am guaranteed to have Gabe at home all day. We spend the mornings at church and then cook, nap, and read together. The highlight of the day is usually a Sunday evening walk in the park near our home. The park looked gorgeous this week and the trees were festooned in all their fall splendor! Whenever I lament the lack of space in our current apartment, I remember how lucky we are to live near such wonderful public parks. It is one of the reasons we enjoy living in the city. I hope all of you are enjoying this prolonged Autumn season as much as us!

Happy Hike

On Saturday, we spent a couple of hours up the canyon with some dear friends. The weather was perfect!

Trip to Arches with my Brothers